Maryland Governor Poised to Sign Measure Broadly Restricting Gun Carry

A television displays a "no guns" sign at the Transportation Security Administration security area at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta on Jan. 25, 2023. Brynn Anderson/AP Photo

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is poised to sign gun restriction measures, one of which will stop lawful gun owners carrying their firearms into many common settings, despite having a permit. Moore’s administration is checking the constitutionality of the bills before moving forward.

“We’re going through and checking on the constitutionality now, but, yes, I plan on signing them soon,” Moore, a Democrat, said.

Maryland House and Senate Democrat majorities passed the bills earlier this year despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that struck down a similar New York law in their ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Moore called the Supreme Court’s decision in that case “wrong.” Moore made the comments during a media availability with reporters at the Maryland Capitol on April 27.

“We have to address the ease in which people are able to get firearms because we know how much that is impacting the basic freedoms of every single Marylander, and that is something that is not going to stand as long as I’m the governor,” Moore said.

Maryland Democrat Wes Moore talks to reporters in Owings Mills, Md., on June 6, 2022, after a Democratic primary debate for governor of Maryland. AP Photo/Brian Witte, File

However, president of local gun rights group Maryland Shall Issue, Mark Pennak, said, “Substantial parts of SB1 are blatantly unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision.”

“Maryland Shall Issue, along with others, will file a federal lawsuit challenging SB1 soon after SB1 is signed. We hope that Gov. Moore will veto it, but he has already indicated that he intends to sign the bill,” Pennak said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

Maryland’s SB 1 states that ”a person may not wear, carry or transport a firearm onto the real property of another” unless given express permission. It also bans such possession “within 100 feet of a place of accommodation.” HB 824 is the House’s companion bill to SB 1.

All gun owners, no matter their intention, who bring their gun into a “place of public accommodation,” which includes any retail establishment such as an inn, motel or hotel, restaurant or theater, and other places that “offers goods, services, entertainment, recreation, or transportation” face jail time.

In addition to SB 1, SB 86 would raise the age of possession of ordinary long guns to 21, and SB 113 will weaken a federal law that shields firearms industry members from frivolous civil lawsuits.

Meanwhile, supporters of gun control measures praised the bills, saying these laws will reduce violence with guns and save lives.

The Maryland chapters of advocacy groups “Moms Demand Action” and “Students Demand Action,” both part of “Everytown for Gun Safety,” and member Giselle Morch, whose son was shot in a home invasion, praised SB 1.

“There are some places where guns simply don’t belong—places like polling places, schools, and bars and restaurants that serve alcohol,” Giselle Morch said in a statement.

Pennak said in his January testimony in front of the Maryland General Assembly that lawful gun owners who have permits are not the ones committing the violent crimes. He believes people who steal guns are more the problem and stricter punishments for gun theft could be a powerful action to help reduce gun violence.

Maryland state Republican lawmakers criticized the bills, saying that instead of stopping violence with gun, the laws will only punish law-abiding citizens by fining those violating the new gun laws up to $1,000 dollars or a year in jail, even if the gun owner is unaware of the new law and inadvertently carries their gun onto private property.

In an April 21 letter to Moore, the few Republicans in the Maryland Senate urged the governor to veto the bills that challenged the Second Amendment.

“Surely both SB 1 and HB 824 will face court challenges, and we encourage you to veto these measures now to save Marylanders the expense of defending these unconstitutional bills in court,” the Republican senators wrote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.